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Lawyer sues Japan over Diaoyu bid

24.07.12 01:32 Age: 6 yrs

Lawyer sues Japan over Diaoyu bid

A Chinese lawyer has filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government for violating Chinese sovereignty in its recent attempt to "purchase" the Diaoyu Islands, seeking an apology and confiscation of the money raised by Japanese politicians.

Hao Junbo, a lawyer at Lehman, Lee and Xu, headquartered in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday that he has added Kunioki Kurihara, a Japanese businessman who claimed ownership of three of the Diaoyu Islands, to his list of defendants. "I'm suing the Tokyo government, its governor and Kurihara because they are trying to legalize the ownership of the Diaoyu Islands by making the purchase a civil case which has the same theory as money laundering," Hao said, adding the point of his case is to let Chinese courts exercise their judicial rights over the Diaoyu Islands. Hao said the Beijing Higher People's Court was considering whether to process the case and didn't give him any specific date when it would reply to his application. The Japanese central government confirmed its decision to acquire the islands in the East China Sea, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on July 7, according to Asahi Shimbun.

Sankei Shimbun also revealed on Monday that the Japanese government is considering naming a new ambassador to China since Uichiro Niwa, the current ambassador, is getting "too close" to China. In an interview with the Financial Times in June, Niwa warned that plans by the Tokyo municipal government to buy the "Senkaku" (Diaoyu) Islands from their private Japanese owner could spark an "extremely grave crisis" between Japan and China.The Japanese Embassy in Beijing told the Global Times on Monday that the news about a possible ambassador replacement is not true and the Japanese government is currently not available to reveal any information about position changes of officials.